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Amid hectic diplomatic activity with growing pressure from the West on India's oil deals with Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually meet with US President Joe Biden on Monday.

"The two leaders will review ongoing bilateral cooperation and exchange views on recent developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest," a media release said.

The virtual meeting will enable both sides to continue their regular and high-level engagement aimed at further strengthening the bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, it added.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday wrote to five states and Union territories (UTs) over their higher contribution to India's Covid-19 cases, and asked them to maintain a strict vigilance and take pre-emptive action in areas that are showing concerns.

Highlighting the significant dip in the country's daily case count, Bhushan asked the authorities in Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and Mizoram to continue monitoring the spread of the infection and adopt the necessary measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19.

The health secretary further spoke about the need to follow the five-fold strategy of “test, track, treat, vaccination and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour” for them to contain the rising number of cases.

"It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required in any areas of concern to control any emerging spread of infection. Testing and surveillance still remain important to track the virus, its spread and evolution," the letter read.

It said Mizoram and Haryana logged 814 and 416 new cases last week, respectively. Meanwhile, Kerala reported 2,321 fresh infections last week, and Maharashtra and Delhi accounted for 794 and 826 cases, respectively.

India on Friday recorded as many as 1,109 fresh Covid-19 cases, which was the third consecutive day that the country logged over 1,000 infections again.

The Centre's letter comes close on the heels of several states, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and Kerala, lifting Covid-19 restrictions. Maharashtra and Haryana have also lifted the mask mandate, while Delhi is no longer charging fines from its citizens for not wearing one in public. In Kerala, however, the mask mandate remains.

(With inputs from agencies)

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” by invading Russian troops in Ukraine. The US-led push garnered 93 votes in favor, while 24 countries voted no and 58 countries abstained. India abstained in the UNGA on a vote moved by the US to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

Russian Embassy in India on Thursday expressed grief over the attack in Ukraine’s Bucha and said, “The heinous attack in Bucha brings back the nightmares of the Nazi crimes during the Second World War. It raised revulsion and condemnation in Russia and India and globally.” It also said that Russia firmly stands for bringing to justice those involved in this outrageous war crime act.

India's first case of Coronavirus variant XE was reported in Mumbai today, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said in a media release. One case of the Kappa variant has also been detected. The patients with the new variants of the virus don't have any severe symptoms so far.

The new mutant may be more transmissible than any strain of Covid-19, the World Health Organisation had said last week.

Official sources from the union home ministry, however, disagreed, saying the present evidence does not suggest that it is XE variant.

"FASTQ files in respect of the sample, which is being said to be XE variant, were analysed in detail by genomic experts of INSACOG who have inferred that genomic constitution of this variant does not correlate with genomic picture of XE variant," an official said.

Addressing the UN security council meeting on Tuesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the “most terrible war crimes” since World War II are being committed in Ukraine. “Yesterday I returned from our city of Bucha, recently liberated from Russian troops not far from Kyiv. There is not a single crime that they would not commit. The Russian military searched for and purposefully killed anyone who served our country,” he said, The Guardian reported. “They shot and killed women outside their houses when they just tried to call someone who is alive, they killed entire families, adults and children and they tried to burn the bodies,” he added.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Western allegations Russian forces committed war crimes by executing civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha were a “monstrous forgery” aimed at denigrating the Russian army, Reuters reported. “It is simply a well-directed – but tragic – show,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It is a forgery aimed at denigrating the Russian army – and it will not work.”